activity 2 - international mindedness

Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Marie Baird - Tuesday, 28 January 2014, 04:57 AM Explain how the IB mission statement and international mindedness are, or could be, manifested in your school context.

Post your comment here.

Reply | Export to portfolio

Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby May MATAR - Thursday, 30 January 2014, 08:44 PM Our school is in the IB candidacy stage. As a staff, we’ve been working on the candidacy file for the last few months. Luckily, the IB mission statement has extensively matched our school’s mission and context.Our school is an international school where teachers, workers, and students come from multicultural backgrounds. Nevertheless, all of them perform their work in coherence, understanding and commitment. In our classes, we create a motivational and effective open-learning environment that focuses on acceptance, respect and appreciation of others which is the core of the international mindedness and standards.

Show parent | Reply | Export to portfolio

Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your

https://onlinepd.ibo.org/user/view.php?id=19127&course=1958


school contextby Marie Baird - Thursday, 30 January 2014, 09:18 PM Sounds like your school and educational environment are a good "fit" for becoming an IB school!


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Bronwyn WYNGAARD - Friday, 31 January 2014, 06:45 AM Ecole Ruban Vert, which is an international school in Libreville, Gabon, is where I work. It is a brand new school which we started in September 2013. We are applying for IB candidacy and we are using the IPC and IMYC (International Primary Curriculum and International Middle Years Curriculum). These are truly "international" curricula, using best practice from a range of curricula. Even the staff has been recruited, deliberately, from as great a variety of national backgrounds as possible: we have British, American, South African, Ukrainian, French, Irish, Gabonese, Chinese....and I'm sure I'm leaving someone out! Our vision is as follows: "Inspiring passion and developing international leadership through learning, to create a better world." "Unashamedly idealistic", as the IB says about its own mission statement! We really mean it, too...we workshopped this together, and I think that having people from countries which have really struggled with issues such as Apartheid (South Africa) and Communist censorship and propaganda (China) ensured that we sincerely understood the need for internationalism and for using education to "create a better world". The IMYC, which I am teaching, includes learning goals for International Mindedness, so we are constantly having to look at how we ensure that in our disciplines, we include ways of making students examine their cultural/social identities and be aware of the ranges of identity around them, and how best to respond to all of this. Our student body is even more varied than the teaching staff, and this enables us to have many activities and conversations around the issue of internationalism. The school is also part of Gabon's drive for "Green


Gabon" (hence the name Ecole Ruban Vert) and so we are working on an environmental programme, largely based on looking at Gabonese conservation, of course, but keeping in mind global awareness of how important the rainforest is to the entire world. I would say that internationalism is really a big part of what drives the school, and because we are the founders of the school, we are regularly discussing and implementing ways to keep it fuelled. One important thing we do is, when ordering resources, we make sure that we do not order only British material or only American material, but a broader range. When deciding which books to teach in my Language Arts classes, for example, I make sure that I include authors from around the world.


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Marie Baird - Friday, 31 January 2014, 04:14 PM Sounds like a great initiative - and a really exciting project to be part of.

I heartily endorse your determination to source the programs using a range of perspectives. I's so important that we ensure all the different Englishes are represented - and the equally varied contexts from which they spring. A resource I've loved using (I'll note this again elsewhere) is found at newseum.org. On any given day you can access the front pages from more than 700 of the world's newspapers. It's a great way to access different perspectives on a similar topic (eg on the opening day of the Olympics, how will the coverage compare on the front pages of newspapers in Melbourne, Ottawa, Jo'burg, London and Singapore)?



Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Halvor HEGLAND - Friday, 31 January 2014, 12:05 PM Our school, Elverum upper secondary school, is a candidacy school and we have limited experience in international mindedness. We sometimes feel a little isolated in the Norwegian “outback” 120 kilometres from Oslo. However, we do have a few exchange students and pupils from different countries.

Trying to understand different cultures and aspects of being from different cultures is an important goal in the International English Subject we teach. The aim : “to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect”, seems as ambitious as it should be. It should be a goal in everything we do to search for and bring about understanding between different cultures.


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Marie Baird - Saturday, 1 February 2014, 08:22 PM Thanks Halvor. Will all of your program be offered in English? Or will your students be taking both Norwegian A and English A?




Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Halvor HEGLAND - Tuesday, 4 February 2014, 11:14 AM Hello Marie! Sorry about the late answer. We will offer both English and Norwegian language A..

Halvor


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Helen DUNNING - Saturday, 1 February 2014, 05:47 AM My school is an interesting one, culturally. The majority of the stuents are a combination of Korean-American, American-Korean or Korean, which definitely makes International-mindedness a challenge. Societal concerns, ideology and paradigms still dominate and there is a fascination for Korean and American pop culture that supercedes all others.

But the school has been going through a transition since I arrived three and a half years ago towards a more inquiry-based model that resulted in new courses like Math Connections (the math-only version of TOK), Global Issues and Philosophy. We also utilise a wider range of cultural texts than previously. Although there's still a long way to go, this shift has brought in more internationalism. Units of inquiry in English Lit and Language often look at a theme across a range of different cultures and require



comparisons and evaluation of their own culture and other cultures. The more international the texts are, the more likely students are to see similarities as well as differences. This brings more ideas and open-mindedness to the table and therefore more creativity and willingness to consider the value of less dominant cultures.


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Marie Baird - Saturday, 1 February 2014, 08:25 PM I'm not familiar with Math Connections - it sounds like it would be a really suitable fit for students who are generally (at least in my experience) so at home examining the world through a mathematical lens.


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Helen DUNNING - Monday, 3 February 2014, 05:32 AM It's an elective course not related to the IB. But yes, very much for the more mathematically minded - although it's very popular with other students as well because it's so different from other maths courses - they debate statistics, build things, look at the mathematics of gambling/odds, etc.




Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Robin ULSTER - Sunday, 2 February 2014, 06:53 AM Our school, the International School Bangkok is an IB school (high school) but manifests the IB mission statement and international mindedness in all areas of the school. I feel like the school as an institution and as a community has come together to, "develop inquiring, knowledgable and caring young people who help create a better and more peaceful world." Some examples of this are that we have a global citizenship coordinator at our school who works with students, parents, teachers and administrators at every level to find opportunities for service and to connect our community to other local, regional and international communities for work, play and service. In addition to this, our social studies strands from Pre-K - 12 include global citizenship and international-mindedness outcomes. These were approved of and developed as a whole school process. Our school curriculum also focuses on issues of social and economic justice, sustainability and the power of one to make a difference. With these three initiatives alone, I feel a match between the IB mission statement, international-mindedness and our school.


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school context



by Yasser HAMAD - Sunday, 2 February 2014, 12:01 PM Al Faris International School, which is located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is my school. Our students, teachers and workers are from different cultures. This makes it a multicultural environment. Mutual understanding and respect to other cultures as well as the host country culture makes international mindedness easily implemented in our school. Moreover, Al Faris mission statement is having a lot in common with the IB mission statement which makes it easier to be understood and practiced by everyone here.


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Martinez KARLA - Sunday, 2 February 2014, 05:29 PM I work in an Indepedent International school in the south of UK.

The school has around 400 kids. 200 english + 200 from all the other nationalities. Hlaf of the students live in the school.

I think that we have an international midedness in our school becuase of all the nationalities that can be found. China, spaspanin italy, rusia, armenia.. all of this international student sharing their lives with UK students.

We do also have many international teachers, and not just for languages.

We promote diferent international activities like chinese new year, french day, intenational day or trips to different countries.



Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Joanna HERMANIUK - Sunday, 2 February 2014, 05:48 PM When I first came across the IB mission statement I was mesmerized by its consistency and coherence. I have been working with students of many different bacgrounds but the most challenging is how to make the students work with one another, as well as in teams. In order to be able to do so we try to get to know all the students as well as we can, but also make ourselves, the teachers, approachable, friendly and helpful in non-school related problems the students might come across. We are trying to develop sense of community and build positive relationships between students and teachers. Recently we are focusing on fostering communication between teachers of different subjects and projects aiming at integrating different skills and attributes across the curriculum.


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Allyson WEILAND - Monday, 3 February 2014, 04:56 AM I have a school that is very similar culturally to Helen's experience. Most of my students are Kuwaiti or Kuwaiti-American, and it can be different to introduce students to new experiences beyond the "food, flags, and festivals" that Matt White mentioned in the notes.

I think that our English program has really made strides in this area. We have been trying to broaden our focus in literature through reading projects



that include authors from outside the cultures that dominate our bookshelves. We focus on similarity of experience, and it's led to some very interesting discussions in class. We are also very lucky that our students travel often. A few students have started bringing books back when they journey to a new country, and we've had great success using short stories to help develop their understanding. We've also made progress integrating social sciences and the study of cities an infrastructure through a research project that the students very much enjoyed.

As a whole, our school now celebrates an "International Day" where students cook traditional foods, coreograph dances to traditional music, and dress in traditional costume from various cultures. While it's not perfect, the students love that small window into the "other", and it's always wonderful to see how enthusiastic and curious they become during their preparations.


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Joanna HERMANIUK - Tuesday, 4 February 2014, 02:46 PM Hi Allyson! I'm interested in what kinds of books your students bring back from their trips? Are they just random titles or have you noticed any pattern there? Joanna



Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Alexandra MOLINA - Monday, 3 February 2014, 02:40 PM I work in a private school in Guayaquil-Ecuador (South America). Our student body is 98% Ecuadorian. The purpose for becoming IB was to work with international mindness and and it has given our students a new vision of their surrounding world.We have very few exchange students and the great majority are also South American and who share a very similar culture to ours. But besides that we have put special emphasis on international education using the guidelines for the IB by putting into practice the learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, learning to be, global awrenes amongst others.

The mission statement and international mindness are put into action by stimulating learning that promotes responsible citizenship and international mindess. The school also gives the students the chance to learn about issues that have significance either locally or world wide and that takes them to understand common human aspects and even if we haven´t had the opportunity yet to experience different and diverse cultural backgrounds in our learning environment we have a very reliable staff of teachers that either share their experiences or through their thoroughly prepared clases introduce students to world´s reality.

Our school and teachers also promote an atmosphere of open communication amongst our students (and ourselves) but always pointing out that they should be cautious in expressing their ideas and feelings in order not to disrespect their classmates.



Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Marie Baird - Monday, 3 February 2014, 11:37 PM Thanks Alexandra. There are distinct challenges in promoting international mindedness when a school's population is largely from one context. However, it sounds like your school has the will and the inclination to promote global awareness and international mindedness through a range of activities and planning!


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Camille GOUVEIA - Tuesday, 4 February 2014, 03:31 PM "AYA's mission is to provide a safe, nurturing, and stimulating Islamic environment to enable (its) students to achieve academic excellence and prepare them to be morally and socially responsible citizens."

AYA's mission statement already reflects, to some degree, the things that IB aims to channel to their students. The students are already in a mindset that displays the knowledge of other countries, and as a teacher, my responsibility would be to take that and expand on their knowledge of how what they know related to other cultures that they don't typically familiarize themselves with. Since the school has a very close community feel, the students are often taught lessons about being social responsible citizens according to religious teachings and beliefs. The school expects all of their students to make choices that will allow them to become better citizens so



that they can contribute to society in a way that is beneficial. The IB course will allow the teachers to take the "international mindedness" to another level that will challenge the students to reflect and become more familiar with culutral differences and similarities, and how they may impact society as a whole.


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby María Jesús MORENO SOLÍS - Tuesday, 4 February 2014, 07:16 PM We are a candidate school and we have been working very hard developing the internacional mindedness for a long time. We have promoted investigation between our students working individually and in groups. They have to look for information in internet using their iPads and in the library that we have in the school. Furthermore, in Spanish we have always developed a lot of oral and communicative activities, like reading context, recording television or radio shows, and mainly performing important plays, as it has been a important activity in our school since its origins.

And, finally, multilingualism and international mindedness are big pillars in our schools, as we have English, German and French as a second language and we organice cultural and academic exchanges with England and Germany students and we also arrange summer courses in these countries.



Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Jordi TUR - Thursday, 6 February 2014, 09:41 PM As May’s school, KSI Bogotá is also in the IB candidacy stage. The whole school has been working on the candidacy file for the last few months and we are planning on being accredited next year so we can start preparing our first group of students for the 2017 exams. Fortunately,our school values are in good syntony with the IB profile:

Collaborative Leadership: We take responsibility for ourselves and others, sharing information and resources to achieve stretching goals. We are active communicators, involving our team members in decision making. In this supportive environment, we are empowered to take risks and make decisions.

Enthusiasm: We care about what we do, and we demonstrate our dedication to others. We are engaged in our work and we seek to inspire and encourage others in a positive and constructive way.

Respectfulness: Our principles and standards are high, and they are important to us. We expect kindliness and good manners as universal, recognising the value and diversity of others and through this seeking to improve and grow ourselves.

Enduring Partnerships: When we give an undertaking, we are committed for the long term. Our approach, attitude, systems and processes all support this. In the spirit of serving others, we have the will to succeed and will persist whilst being flexible.

Creativity: Our approach is entrepreneurial. We take initiative, seizing opportunities, solving problems and embracing new ideas

Reflective Learning: We strive to develop ourselves by learning from our experience. We seek out and are open to feedback, applying our learning to improve ourselves and reach our goals.


Our vision for learners is to educate a community of global citizens by providing them with opportunities to be all they can be and inspiring them to make a positive difference in a changing world; and our mission is to cultivate the intellect, passion and imagination of our learners so that they are empowered to engage productively and creatively as global citizens who value and respect diversity.

Knightsbridge Schools International tries to helps learners to be all they can be as global citizens. The highest standards of international education are met through an inquiry-based, concept-driven curriculum. At Knightsbridge Schools International our ethos is expressed as the KSI Code: tolerance, respect, integrity, independence, enthusiasm, empathy, curiosity, creativity, confidence, cooperation, commitment and appreciation. I think we are not too far from the IB profile.

On the other hand, the school is far from being international. With 99% of the population being Colombian, and with only one brazilian, a couple of mexicans and a few venezuelans as foreigners, we are trying very hard to take our students outside of the box and expose them to as many different cultures, ideas and points of view as possible. We have a long way to go, but I think we all are very enthusiastic about this journey.


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Marie Baird - Friday, 7 February 2014, 05:13 AM Thank you Jordi. Good luck on this journey!



Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Hannah PAYNE - Friday, 7 February 2014, 07:06 AM I work in a small international school in China we are currently an IB candidate school. We have a huge range of cultural, racial and language backgrounds in both our students and teachers. Each day we must practice, not only staff but students as well, international mindedness. My favourite experience at work is watching students interact- they will play soccer speaking four different lanaguages- slipping seamlessly between English, Chinese while others translate toother lanaguages so everyone can understand. Studensta are always finding ways to communiacte with their peers and make jokes despite the very obvious barriers and differences. I think this is what makes the IB and our school philosophy work together the understanding that we are all different and sharing those differences.


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Christopher WINCHESTER - Friday, 7 February 2014, 01:45 PM One of the best parts of teaching in an international IB school is that so many simple classroom interactions become opportunities for new intercultural understanding. Sometimes when I try to relate or contexualize something with my students I'll catch myself saying things like "You know how when you were growing up you did _______?" And my students will look at me and remind me that we grew up in different cultures, and that



can prompt some of the most interesting discussions I've had with them.

The other aspect of the IB that attracted me to it is the importance of community service. Having grown up in the Boy Scouts I always felt that much of the community service that I did when I was younger helped me grow into who I am today. To that end, I love that the IB has the CAS program and I feel it gives the students such a positive opportunity to see many different parts of their own communities that they wouldn't otherwise interact with, especailly considering that the students are a part of the highest socio-economic class in the country. Our school puts a high priority on the CAS program and the last part of the mission statement, "These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that otehr people, with their diferences, can also be right"


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Marie Baird - Friday, 7 February 2014, 10:55 PM Thanks Chris - the CAS program has always been really important to me, too. Certainly some of my most memorable experiences in the IB world have centered on CAS activities with students in some very remote areas, undertaking service opportunties that felt far more meaningful than much of what I'd done to date.



Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your school contextby Gurpreet KAUR PNAICH - Saturday, 8 February 2014, 09:13 AM As every student aspires to study in an environment full of knowledge and caring faculty, where the core motivation is to learn in a congenial environment where they are taught values of risk taking, balanced life etc. We as teachers aspire the same as well,and are lucky that our school is in the initiation of the IB candidacy stage. As the process has started and we all are giving our best to complete the process as responsible team members. The IB mission statement certainly has complete relevance and shall be best to co-relate our mission and vision.

The best gift at our school is education to multi-cultural pupils from different parts of the world. We work thoroughly towards their performance on accumulating different ideas and resources to educate all cultures under the same umbrella. We have even kept a small ratio of special needs kids who are educated and taught in the same classroom as the pupils from different cultures.

By doing this what we increase in their mind is the motive called - " Acceptance towards each other" or " oneness ".

So I hereby, second with the mission statement of the IB and agree towards the working


Re: Activity 2 - International Mindedness and the IB mission in your



school contextby Marie Baird - Saturday, 8 February 2014, 04:18 PM Thanks Gurpreet. Your school's stated mission and practice indeed seems aligned with the values of the IBO. M

activity 2 - international mindedness

Documents